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03 Aug 2015 9:53:44am

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LIAMK

I will endeavor to answer the question raised in your post.

(i) Like many folks today, your perception of slavery is perhaps one where persons are bound in chains or some restrictive environment and flogged or beaten when they make mistakes, or fail to meet the slave master's productivity expectations.

The experience of slavery during the Roman empire was varied. Some slaves faced real hardship especially in work in mines, on ships and in heavy construction projects, and some faced cruel treatment even for minor mistakes . The majority of slaves were found in domestic services where life would be much easier.

7.5 million slaves were estimated to have worked during the reign of Augustus Caesar .

(ii). When correctly interpreted and understood, these biblical verses you quoted are in fact an indictment against any cruel treatment of slaves throughout the Roman empire.

The slave/master were simply another occupational classification in ancient times that would be equivalent to worker/employer in our current context.

1 Tim 6:1 , 1 Peter 2:18, Ephesians 6:5 and Titus 2:9 - all emphasize the role of the Christian slave or worker in conducting his life and labor such that no master could lay any legitimate grounds for questioning his integrity, honesty and lack of discipline in any task that is given him or her to accomplish.

These references are NOT condoning the oppressive and exploitative treatment of unscrupulous and cruel treatment by masters towards their slaves.

Moreover, the apostle Paul does exhort masters(Ephesians 6:9) to treat slaves with respect and fairness and refrain from threatening them, - and certainly NEVER to abuse them physically or sexually.

-as well as oppose an ethic where workers are often treated as objects for the purpose of maximizing profits.